This blog will offer tips on how to enjoy a healthy life. I will feature different types of exercise and help you find those that are best for you. For some, it may be yoga, while others might prefer weight training, or running. I will help you understand that no food is off-limits. You can still have that slice of birthday cake without feeling an ounce of guilt.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Just You Weight!

I am in love with lifting weights. Totally, completely in love with it. People don't always associate weight lifting with women (for shame!) or they assume that lifting equals big muscles. You probably aren't one of those people. If you are reading my blog, chances are you lift, or you've dabbled in lifting, or at the very least, you know that the concept isn't foreign for women.

I used to think that lifting weights was only for muscle heads or for people who wanted to get bigger. My preference was always to have a yoga body, lean and strong. It still is. Once I started lifting, though, I realized that weight training doesn't make you big (necessarily), it makes you strong.

When my son was younger, I used to carry him up to bed every night. He loved being held by me, but hated when I left him to go to the gym. It dawned on me that my time at the gym made me stronger, making holding him easier. So one night, when he asked me to carry him up the stairs, I said, "You know, I go to the gym to get strong so that I will always be able to carry you upstairs, no matter how big you get." He thought that was fabulous.

Five years after we had that conversation, I am still able to lift my son and carry him up the stairs. I take great pride in my ability to do six sets of 25 lb. bicep curls (working on 27.5 lbs. to make one set of eight reps of 30 lb. curls by my birthday). I can squat over 100 lbs. in the squat rack, and to do ten sets of ten push-ups. None of this makes me any bigger than my size 6 frame, but all of it makes me stronger. And that feels powerful, and feminine, and beautiful.

My son no longer asks me to carry him up the stairs to bed, but sometimes I do it just to prove that I can.